MY PANTRY JARS

If you live in an apartment as I do, then you can’t have any open containers, boxes or bags of food. Everything I open goes into a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

If I open a box of cereal, I don’t roll down the clear waxed bag inside the box, thinking pests won’t find it. They’ll find it. After opening, I empty the box into a jar. If I use half a box of pasta, I don’t surmise that pests won’t like it anyway. I don’t take a chance. In the jar it goes.

Containers with tight-fitting lids are available at every dollar store. They’re cheap. Buy a cheap bookcase to put them on. Find room. You’ll be glad you did.

Every night before I retire, I empty the trash and wipe down the inside of the trash container, even though it had a bag in it. There is never any food out unless I’m cooking or eating, and when I’m done it promptly gets put away.

There is no such thing as leaving the dishes till morning, or saying just one night won’t hurt. Yes it will. Wipe down your counters, sinks and stove with soapy water at the end of the evening, being sure all crumbs are gone. Sweep your kitchen floor, so everything is fresh when you rise in the morning.

When you move into a new apartment, go under your sinks – kitchen and bathroom. Plug up the holes around the pipes into the wall with fine grade steel wool. Then seal the openings with duck tape. Landlords won’t mind. In fact they’ll like it. Then every year or so, redo them. Tapes get old and buildings settle.

If everybody did their part of controlling pests in their own living spaces, then apartment buildings wouldn’t be so over-run with them.